The Reverend Will the Thrill Presents the Film of the Week!

This week's film is one of those that I seem to be drawn to repeatedly for reasons unbeknownst to me.  Since high school, when my sister and I watched The Blues Brothers so many times that we memorized the dialogue, I've found myself going through periods where I can't stop watching a particular movie--sometimes multiple times a week.  I once watched Grosse Point Blank four times over a period of eight days during the spring of 2000.  As I've gotten older, my life seems to be surprisingly more harried than it used to be, so I haven't done anything like that in quite some time.  But I still find myself wanting to watch certain movies over and over again.  Most of these films fall into the category of what I call "Saturday Night Movies"--usually romantic comedies that I feel are best appreciated on Saturdays, particularly after the sun goes down.  This week's film is one of those.

As a birthday gift to myself last week, I went to Barnes & Noble and browsed their collection of Criterion blu-rays and DVDs.  I couldn't believe my good fortune to discover that this week's film selection had been released in a Criterion edition just this past February.  In fact, it was just a few weeks ago that I thought to myself that this would be an ideal movie for Criterion to release.  It's a small, but incredibly charming film, which may be one of the things that I'm drawn to.  The fact that Peter Riegert stars in it doesn't hurt either--between this, Local Hero (1983) and, of course, National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), he's quickly become one of my favourite actors.  And even though I'm not Jewish, I'm also fascinated with Jewish culture which is a big part of the picture.  (In fact, one studio apparently didn't want to make it because they deemed it "too ethnic"--even though the studio was largely run by Jewish executives.)

The main character, Isabelle (played by Amy Irving in a Golden Globe nominated performance), works in an independent bookstore in New York City where she arranges events with big time writers.  She periodically looks after her grandmother, or "bubbie," (Reizl Bozyk) and hangs out with her friends and thinks she has a great life.  But her bubbie doesn't like the fact that she lives alone so she sets up an appointment with a matchmaker and before too long she is begrudgingly introduced to Sam Posner (Riegert) who makes pickles for a living.  In the meantime, she finds herself strangely attracted to a famous writer, Anton Maes (Jeroen Krabbé), who will be doing a reading and signing at her store.  And occasionally her friend Nick (John Bedford Lloyd) will spend the night at her apartment even though he's involved with another woman.  Suddenly she doesn't know what's going on, at least not in her personal life.

I have a vague recollection of the film when it was first released, but I didn't see it for many years.  (I was also 14 when it came out--I don't think I would have appreciated it as much then as I do today.)  I first saw this film on Turner Classic Movies in a hotel room at the Days Inn in Ronks, Pennsylvania (don't ask why I remember that).  I was taken with it even then--enough that I knew I would like to add it to my personal film library.  Eventually, I found a copy and--surprise, surprise!--found myself watching it many times over.  I couldn't resist grabbing the Criterion edition last week because I knew that not only would the sound and picture quality would be better than the DVD I had, but there would also be extra features beyond just the film's trailer that I knew I would just eat up.

This is another example of where the supporting cast makes the movie.  For as much as you get caught up in the characters of Isabelle, Anton, and Sam, Reizl Bozyk steals every scene she's in as Isabelle's bubbie.  It should be noted that she was famous in Yiddish theater for many years and this is the only film she made in English.

The movie co-stars Sylvia Miles, George Martin, David Hyde Pierce, Claudia Silver, Suzzy Roche, and Rosemary Harris.  Written by Susan Sandler (based on her play) and directed by Joan Micklin Silver, this week, from 1988 (despite what the attached trailer says), I highly recommend Crossing Delancey.

Until next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.

Yours in peace, love, and rock and roll!

The Reverend Will the Thrill